Don't stop if I fall and don't look back
by RurouniTensai
Summary: Vegeta has a disturbing dream about Bulma. Will it come to be? or will he stop the mysterious force behind his dreams before it's too late!
1. Living the dream

This is the first story I've written in almost seven years. So please forgive me. I also have never written for this fandom, so I don't own anything but my own wording and my brain cells.

 _Don't stop if I fall and don't look back._

 _Don't stop. Bury me and fade to black._

 _~Hang Em' High, My Chemical Romance_

Sharp inhale, followed by a bloody cough. Vegeta spit a mouthful of blood to the side of him and curled his lips into his signature smirk. Yes, he was hurt and bleeding. Yes, he had a sizable hole in his side from the energy blast that had been hurled at him. But he would rather die than show any form of weakness in front of his opponent. Sweat dripped off of his prominent brow as he tilted his head to the side.

"Is that all you've got, asshole?" He growled towards his enemy, voice lathered with insolence. "I've had bug bites worse than this!" He leapt quickly, dodging another hit. He hovered over the landscape for a moment, assessing the situation, mind running a mile a minute. The beast was quick, the Saiyan hadn't even managed to fully see who or what was attacking him, all he knew was it was a challenge. He loved a good challenge.

"Now, where are you?" He yelled to the ground. Looking and seeing no trace of the shadow that had been fighting him. " Come out, you cowardly bastard!"

Suddenly, he heard a familiar scream coming from behind him. He turned and the blood drained from his face.

A large black smoke was floating behind him. Nothing about the monster seemed to stand out other than the bright red eyes glowing from deep within the form as it billowed in the strong wind, somehow still maintaining its form. That wasn't what made Vegeta pale.

It had Bulma. Her face was streaked with fearful tears and her hands were pawing at the hold the beast had around her small neck. Her face was red and she was choking. She reached for her husband with one hand while trying to find purchase with the other. Her eyes pleading, _help me, please, help me._ The beast had drawn a line in the sand that Vegeta was never gonna let it live to cross.

"You bastard," He snarled, "Put her down safely and I might let you have a quick death. I'm still deciding, depending on how fast you act!" He sped towards the smoke, preparing to strike, but still being careful not to harm his wife in the process. This beast won't last an hour, if he could only get his hands on it.

Bulma was kicking and squirming, trying to free herself and still reaching for her husband. He was so close. So close he was almost touching her. His arm was around her, he was going to hit the beast in the face he was going to-

 _Shlrickkk!_ Blood dripped from Bulma's mouth as a cloud of smoke shaped into a blade made it's way straight through her chest from behind. The smoke then dissipated leaving Vegeta holding his bleeding woman in one arm and the other extended out to punch. Her body slumped against him, and he quickly flew down to the ground with his precious cargo in tow.

He laid her down so he could assess the damage and go from there in deciding what to do.

"Bulma, Bulma, Bulma- look at me, please, Woman look at me!" He frantically tried to get her attention. She wasn't moving, and had gone completely limp. He held her face in his hand and looked straight into her eyes, searching for some sign of life. Her eyes had gone dark. He quickly pulled her chest to his ear praying to anyone that would listen for some form of a heartbeat or a breath.

Silence.

Then he stopped, looked up and-

Vegeta sat up suddenly, breathing heavily. He looked around at his surroundings. He was in his bedroom, coated in sweat, in bed, next to his sleeping wife.

He sighed, _I was dreaming, thank Kami,_ he thought as he laid back down and rolled onto his side. He wrapped an arm around Bulma, gently sliding her closer to him. The Saiyan inhaled her sweet scent, and rested his forehead against the back of her head; thankful that the dream had been just that, a dream. She sighed in her sleep and he hoped she was having a sweet dream. Her face was so calm and serene. If she knew he sat and watched he sleep sometimes he would never hear the end of it. It would be either one of two things. She would either react by becoming shocked and screaming something along the lines of:

"OH MY GOD! YOU FUCKING CREEP! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SLEEP NOT STARE, ASSHOLE!"

Or, she would blush and do that stupid little side to side dance she does when she thinks something is so adorable and say:

"AW, VEGETA, I ALWAYS KNEW YOU HAD A SWEET ROMANTIC SIDE HIDDEN SOMEWHERE DEEP UNDER THAT THICK MACHO TOUGH GUY ACT! GIMME A KISS, SWEETHEART!"

He shook his head at the thought, _I'd rather keep my reputation as it is, thank you._ But even still, she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever met on any planet and she was his.

Vegeta looked at her one more time before rolling back over and falling asleep, not noticing the black smoke drifting past his bedroom window.


	2. Good morning, Foggy mind

Chapter two! I wrote quite the lemon for this chapter but hey, I rated it M for a reason! Again, I don't own DBZ or any of of its affiliates

Bulma rolled over the next morning to find Vegeta still in bed next to her.

 _Huh,_ she thought, _He normally would be up training by now._ She immediately started shaking him.

"Hey, are you sick or something?" She groaned at him, "If you vomit you're cleaning it up!" She paused, _Do Saiyans even get sick? I mean, I've patched him and Goku up more times than I can count but sick? Hm._ She threw the covers over her seemingly still sleeping husband and started to sit up when suddenly she was pulled swiftly back down onto the bed.

"Not yet, woman!" Vegeta growled softly, almost purring she thought. She raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me mister, but I'll get up whenever I like. I don't care if you were some kinda prince back on Vegeta or that you're my husband! I'll do what I-" He cut her off by pinning her down on the bed. He stared into her eyes with an enigmatic look on his face. Then, he smirked. He leaned his head down next to her ear, his hot breath sending lightning through her nerves.

"You do what you want," His gravelly voice alone was enough to make her moan slightly, "I can just go off to train in the gravity chamber and work off this mood I'm in." He started to nibble on her ear driving her insane. He knew each of her erogenous zones like a fucking GPS.

"Um, I can stay a bit- AH!- longer I guess." She was starting to lose coherent thought as his hand slid between her legs. His mouth slid down from her ear to her neck, then her collarbone. Tender, heated kisses leaving a trail like lava. She arched her back and inhaled deeply. His rough, calloused fingers brushed her underwear, petting directly over her clit and hitting it in a light yet insanely sensitive way. She could practically feel the look on his face as he slid his mouth back near her ear.

"What do you want?" He huskily whispered, his lips brushing her earlobe. She could feel his erection nudging her leg, he wanted her. And dammit did she want him back.

"Fuck me!" She could barely get the words out, her voice breathy and high pitched. She heard him chuckle in her ear. Her panties, or what was left of them after he tore them from her body, flew across the room.

"Hey! I liked those!" She complained, but then he kissed her passionately on the mouth and all was forgiven. Her hands fumbled at his boxers, trying to pull them down, unbutton them, something. He didn't break the kiss as he slid down the underwear that his mate was having so much trouble with and with one strong deft movement brought her hips up against his. She ground her hips against his, trying to get him to slide his sizable shaft inside her, but he stood firm. He nibbled her neck leaving light bite marks from her earlobes down to her shoulder.

"AH!" She moaned in both pleasure and frustration, "Please?" She begged. His smirk grew. His large hand cupped her breast and gently but firmly squeezed the nipple.

"What do you want?" He asked again, purring. "I can't-help you-" He ground his hips against her wetness with each word, "-If you don't-tell me-what you-want." he chuckled slightly.

"FUCK-ME!" She practically screamed as he finally slammed his cock deep inside her. By now she was so overstimulated her eyes began to water. Bulma clung to Vegeta as he thrust deep inside her over and over again. Stroking her g-spot with each movement. She drug her nails down his back, leaving long red welts tracing his well defined muscles. She tangled her fingers in his thick black hair and forced his mouth against hers, tongue exploring his with the tact of an expert. She knew his mouth and he knew hers.

Soon she was reaching climax, and her eyes lolled into her head as she let loose a loud moan that would put a porn actress to shame. Still he thrust, his own arousal heightened by her sudden climax and the corresponding tightening around his length. With a few well placed strokes and grunts he too came and braced himself on the bed. Both breathing heavily. He placed his forehead against hers and smiled.

"Woman, what have you done to me?" He playfully breathed, smirking once again. She shrugged lightly and rolled him onto the bed so they were laying next to one another. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat for a moment.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. " She sighed, inhaling his soft musk.

He held her close, leaning his head against hers, smelling her sweet floral scent. A sudden chill ran down his spine as he remembered the dream from the night before. He wouldn't think about it anymore, it was just a dream, wasn't it? His mind couldn't reconcile that for some reason. It was just too real, almost as real as him holding his wife in his arms right then. But it had to have been simply a dream. That's what he was gonna keep telling himself anyway.

Bulma coughed. Vegeta frowned.

"You alright, Bulma?" He asked, looking at her face. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah, just getting a cold," She replied, his eyes narrowed and he squeezed her slightly.

"You have had that cough for a while now."

"I'm fine!" She insisted, "I'm sorry I don't have your stupid Saiyan immune system! It'll get better in another week or so." She snuggled back into his warmth again and that was the end of that conversation.

Soon, they both sat up and began their morning, basically the same as any other day. They showered, then he went to train for a bit in the gravity chamber while she finished getting dressed. They sat down for breakfast and play fought over the last piece of toast.

To the outside viewer, it seemed like Bulma and Vegeta constantly fought over everything, any little thing was an argument. To them however that wasn't the case. They had a banter, their own little language that only they and their children could recognise. They were both strong willed and loved to, as they put it, "debate". They were brutal but at the end of the day, neither was angry. It was just how they communicated and sure that might not work in other relationships it was how they worked and neither saw a problem in anything as long as at the end of the day they went to bed next to each other. They were happy.

After breakfast, Bulma went straight to work. She had had an idea the night before about a new type of pressure converter for the gravity chamber that would make it able to handle five times its normal gravitational pressure.

 _I just need to tighten the- the-the-_ She suddenly felt dizzy and sat down on the floor. She couldn't remember what the term was. She knew all of the pieces of that grav chamber like the back of her hand but now- then the world went black.


	3. A blood soaked dawn

She sat up to find her husband's face inches from hers. She sat up gingerly, breathing hard.

"What-?" She breathlessly spoke, the world was still spinning.

"Are you okay?" He had one hand behind her back, trying to support her sitting. "I came in here to see if you wanted lunch and you were sprawled out on the floor." She looked up at him confused.

"Lunch? Didn't we just eat?" She looked lost almost, making Vegeta nervous. "You nearly took my hand off for that fucking piece of toast."

"Woman, do you know what time it is?" He looked deep into her eyes, mind going a mile a minute, trying to see if she had been drinking or something. Anything to understand what was happening to her. Bulma looked at the clock, it was 2:30.

 _Damn, already? I just came down here._ Vegeta placed his large hand over her forehead.

"You do feel warm, Bulma. You need to rest, woman!" She started to protest by standing up but another wave of dizziness swept over her and she nodded. Vegeta scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to the bedroom. She shivered in his arms, chills spreading down her spine. Her chest hurt and all she wanted was to get back in bed and curl up in her covers. Her husband gently laid her on her side of the bed and covered her up in their thick blankets.

"Would you like something to eat?" He asked, being uncharacteristically nurturing. Ever since Bulla and Trunks moved out he had been less of an ass but this was pushing it.

"Who are you and what did you do with my dickhead husband?" She snorted before coughing again. "No, I just need to rest, I'm still full from breakfast."

That was a lie, she just didn't think she could handle food at the moment; her stomach was turning and she just wanted to sleep this off. "Could you bring me that bottle of cold medicine from the cabinet? The cherry one." He nodded his head once and walked off to the bathroom to fetch her the bottle of nighttime cold relief. He scanned through the label as he walked back and poured her the correct dose into the little measuring cup provided. He helped her sit up and drink the tiny cup of syrup and laid her back down.

"Well, if that's all you require I'm off for a while. Yell if you need any-" He looked and she was already asleep before he had finished the sentence. He sat on the side of the bed a moment longer. He brushed a lock of her hair off of her face and exhaled deeply. She was so fragile, yet serene when she was sleeping. It had been years since either of them had seen anything other than peaceful times. He participated in the martial arts tournaments but that was about it for him. He always trained because that helped him keep his focus, but now she was his focal point. He trained to protect her, his gorgeous woman.

Bulma didn't get up again all day, sleeping fitfully and waking up with dry coughing fits. The medicine seemed to have little to no effect on her symptoms other than helping her sleep a little better. She didn't eat dinner either and was still sleeping when Vegeta came to bed later that night.

Vegeta was standing in the middle of a valley, nothing but grass. He could taste blood in his mouth. He looked around, trying to find his assailant, but there was nothing in sight. He raised one eyebrow and started to get excited. He hadn't had a good fight in what felt like years and this thing was fast. He spun around again just in time to receive another blow to the face. He laughed out loud as he wiped the blood from his lip.

"Hit me again!" He yelled, "I need a good warm up!" He could feel something looking over his shoulder, he turned and he was face to face with a cloud of smoke. It was dense and black, red eyes staring into his soul it seemed. He sneered at it's bloody stare fearlessly and swung to punch it straight in the face. Well, where he thought it's face should be. He missed. His arm flew right through it, like trying to hit a smoke stack. Vegeta used the momentum from the miss to swing around into a roundhouse kick. Still no purchase on the beast. He grunted as once again the creature landed a blow right in the center of his chest.

"Vegeta!" He turned and saw Bulma running toward him, a smile on her face. His face paled.

"BULMA!" He yelled, "GET BACK!" The beast took his distraction as a chance to land a blow to his jaw, knocking him prone. He looked up from his position on the ground and received another hit to the temple.

"AHHH!" He heard a scream.

"BULMA!" He stood as fast as he could, blood dripping into his eyes semi-blinding him. He wiped his eyes and looked up to see the beast holding his wife. He ran, trying to get to her quickly, she was so scared. Her eyes were wide and frightened. He had to get to her, he had to save-

 _Shlrickkk!_ Once again, the ghost blade went through her chest. She jolted, and coughed a loud hollow hack. Blood ran from her mouth, coating her chin bright red. The blade and the monster disappeared leaving her still standing for a moment, then she fell.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" He cried, falling to his knees himself, barely able to process what had just happened. He shook as a massive, intense pain racked through his body.

 _This isn't happening, this cannot be happening!_ He hit the ground with his fist, pounding the earth with all the strength he could muster, breaking several bones in his hands in the process. He crawled to her limp body, sobbing. He lifted her head into his lap, her eyes dark and-

"AHH!" Vegeta sat up in his bed. Another nightmare, this one worse than the last. And looked over to his wife. Bulma was awake and sitting on the side of the bed, coughing. He practically flew to her side.

"Bulma? Woman? Look at me!" He demanded. She looked up, face pale and still coughing with one hand over her mouth. He brushed her sweaty hair away from her face and placed his forehead on hers. "Sorry," He said, "I had a nightmare and-" He cut off as she moved her hand away from her mouth and his face paled when he saw the blood running from her mouth down her chin.


	4. Sweet Dreams

"I told you, for the hundredth time, I am FINE!" Bulma rinsed her mouth out with water and gargled with mouthwash. "My throat is raw from coughing and I must have burst a capillary in the back of my throat. Happens all the time when humans are sick."

"That was more than a capillary!" Vegeta yelled through the bathroom door. "Next thing you'll be saying that you gargle glass for fun!" She opened the door and looked up at him.

"What does it matter? I just have a cold or the flu. It'll be fine in the next few days!" She tried to push past him to get back to the bed but he stood firm in front of her.

"And if it's not? Then what, woman?" He stared at her with an intensity she hadn't seen before. It frightened her.

"Then I'll go see a doctor and get an antibiotic or something. For now I just wanna ride it out. I'm fine!" She insisted one more time. Vegeta sighed and the look in his eyes seemed to disappear. He leaned his forehead and touched it to hers, grasping her shoulders lightly.

"Promise?" he growled softly and Bulma smiled knowing she had won.

"Promise." She replied.

Over the next few days Vegeta slept very little, not wanting to have the dreams again. Instead he caught himself watching his wife like a hawk, but she did seem to be getting better, the cough persisted but she was up and about. She got to work on the pressure converter for the gravity chamber and Vegeta tested the gravity chamber whenever she needed him to when she adjusted the gravity levels. So far it was now six times Earth's gravity when before it could only handle three times the gravity. Which made Vegeta feel more than a little bit a better. His woman had pulled through and was right, as always. It must just be a cold that was taking it's good time to go away.

Vegeta hopped out of the gravity chamber after a good long afternoon of training and immediately reached for a towel. Six times Earth gravity was a hard workout, but he loved the light feeling he got when he left the chamber after a few hours. He walked to the bathroom and hopped straight into the shower, the hot water running down his sweaty body.

The bathroom door opened and Bulma walked in, stripped and hopped in the shower with her husband.

"The steam will help my congestion." She said. He nodded and continued cleaning. He looked over his shoulder at her.

"Could you help me out with that spot?" He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at his back. There was a spot he couldn't reach to clean properly because his arms were too large. Cons of being muscular. Bulma rolled her eyes and grabbed a washcloth. They continued in silence, as this was a normal routine for them. Marriage had changed the way they looked at each other and their love wasn't the same anymore.

In the years before they got married and had children they could barely keep their hand off of each other. Constant fucking over and over. Now they craved other forms of contact, Bulma loved sleeping next to him, he actually loved cuddling even though he would never say it out loud. Their relationship isn't the same as it was when it first started, they didn't feel butterflies in their stomachs every time they saw each other. No, they just saw each other, the father of her children, the queen of his castle, etc. Just because the puppy love and constant need for sex was gone didn't mean that they didn't love and need and want the other. They just knew the truth in their marriage and that was all they needed.

Vegeta glanced over his shoulder at his wife. She looked a little pale, her eyes slightly sunken in and dark circles surrounding them. She looked sick. She coughed a little into her hand. He could hear her breathing sounded rough and raspy and the coughs echoed through her chest. It made him nervous. He didn't know what else to do though, he didn't get sick so he wouldn't know what is bad or not. She rarely got sick herself! Why would now be the first time he noticed her colds lingering this long.

The washcloth dropped on the ground.

"There!" She exclaimed, "All clean." It was her turn to look him over. She saw his eyes looked tired, like he hadn't been sleeping much and shook her head. "Having trouble sleeping?"

He nodded.

"That nightmare."

Again he nodded. She shook her head a little.

"You know it's just a dream, right?" She lightly punched his arm, "You big baby."

He shook his head and silently got out of the shower, toweling off quickly. Ignoring the fact that as she said that he could have sworn he saw black smoke floating by the corner of his eye.

Bulma skipped dinner that night, claiming that she had a big lunch. Vegeta accepted the lie because he was too tired to fight her over it. He needed to get some sleep and soon. But still he was hesitant to fall asleep. He went to bed first, leaving Bulma to tinker in her lab. He lay on his back and stared at the ceiling for about an hour. He could feel his lids giving way to sleep and still he fought. He didn't want that dream again. And he was gonna make it his bitch! He

would stay awake until it disappeared into the ether. He fought and fought until finally-

"Vegeta?" He opened his eyes to find Bulma leaning over him. "Can you move over? You are taking up the whole bed, asshole." Her face was tired and a little cross. He knew better than to mess with her when she had that look on her face so he slid over.

"Thank you." She rasped, hacking into her hand before crawling under the covers. Vegeta looked at the clock on the wall. It was 4:30 in the morning! Last he had looked it was 9:15. He must have fallen asleep and not even noticed. He didn't have the dream! He smirked and rolled onto his side. He had won. Bulma flipped off the lamp and they both went to sleep.

Vegeta opened his eyes and the beast was there. In his bedroom, hovering over his bed. It looked at him dead in the eyes and seem to cock its head. It was curious about him. Vegeta lay still, waiting for a chance to pounce . It leaned in closer, so close that he thought he could hear it breathe. Did it breathe?

He heard a cough and looked over to his wife lying next to him. The beast also turned its head to look. It looked back to Vegeta and the Saiyan suddenly couldn't move, his arms being held down by the smoke. He tried to cry out but he was mute. He watched as the beast leaned in close to his sleeping wife and seemed to kiss her forehead. She coughed again and her skin started to blacken and crack radiating from the beast's touch. Her eyes opened and she started to say something but before she could her body crumbled and fell apart like cinders in the wind.


	5. The bin doesn't lie

Bulma sat up the next morning to find her husband not in bed next to her. She stood up and looked in the restroom; he wasn't there either. She began looking throughout the house trying to find him and discovered he wasn't home at all.

 _That's weird,_ she thought. _He always tells me before he goes out._ She made a little bit of a face thinking about how he usually leaves the house. It's either:

"WOMAN! I'm leaving you!" and she'd reply

"Good riddance, you freeloading ass!"

Or he would slam the door and walk out mumbling about needing to go punch something. They always joked like that even when there were no true feeling of animosity. It was their thing and they never wanted it to change.

 _Well, I have been sick lately, maybe he just wanted to let me rest._

She stepped out of bed and felt nauseous. She ran to the bathroom and quickly made it to the toilet.

 _Fuck,_ She wiped the side of her mouth and sat back on the floor, suddenly dizzy. _Maybe I'm pregnant,_ She laughed to herself. That would explain the dizzy feeling, and the nausea. But no, she knew better. Her and Vegeta were done with kids. Two was enough.

"I'll take a bath. That'll help." She drug her trash bin next to the tub and grabbed a box of tissues. She ran the bath and added some sweet oils to help. Bulma slid into the bath and sighed. _Ah, that's better._

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed the Saiyan as he threw energy blast after energy blast at the sky. He was pissed, he was furious, he was livid.

 _Damn that monster!_ He thought. Night after night, it was always the same. Some variation of him watching his wife die right in front of him and every single time he is helpless. He hated feeling helpless. He flew down to the ground and stood, panting for a moment. Sweat dripped down his forehead. What was he to do? The dreams kept coming, but he had no idea what they meant. It was hopeless. He took a deep breath and flew back home, shaking his head as again, he thought he could see the black smoke flying with him.

Bulma pressed her fingertips against her temples and rubbed a moment. Her head hurt. It had for a couple of days and the cough wasn't helping. She had actually been coughing up blood a lot more than Vegeta knew about and she meant to keep it that way. He freaked out so bad the other day she didn't want a repeat. Besides, it was just a burst capillary! She just needed to drink more water and soothing warm drinks. That would fix it. She coughed into a tissue and looked down at it.

 _Great, bright red again._ She threw the tissue away in the bin next to her and rubbed at her chest absentmindedly. It hurt worse than it the other day and seemed to get worse every time she coughed. She wrote in her appointment book to call and make a doctor's appointment the next day.

 _That'll make my husband happy,_ She thought. Then continued to tinker with the device on her table.

It was dinnertime when Vegeta finally walked back in the door. He was hot, sweaty, and very tired. He walked into the kitchen and immediately noticed that Bulma was not in there. She normally would have dinner cooking or something at this time. He shrugged of any worry and walked into the bedroom so he could shower and change.

 _She probably got caught up in whatever she is messing around with. She'll notice soon that she hasn't eaten._ He stripped down and started the shower. He made quick business of cleaning himself then reached for a towel. The first one he grabbed was Bulma's. He sniffed it lightly, her sweet scent was strong on it. _She must have showered this morning after I left._ He put it back on the rack and grabbed his, drying himself off quickly. He stepped out and tripped on the bin Bulma kept next to the toilet.

"Dammit, Woman!" He cried out. He kicked it off of his foot, scattering tissues across the floor. "Dammit..." He bent down to pick them up. One by one he scooped them up, his eyes narrowing with each one he picked up. Every one of them had some amount of blood spatter, some fresher than others. He thought back a bit and remembered that lately Bulma had been coughing into tissues instead of just her hand. She had said that she had started doing that because of germs, but now he knew. He quickly wrapped his towel around his waist, running through the house and down to Bulma's lab. He had thought she was getting better but she was hiding this?

He ran faster, listening for any sound, any sign that she was just engrossed in her machinery. Nothing. The halls were silent. He slammed open the door to her laboratory.

"BULMA!" He cried out then rushed to her side.

She was on the floor, motionless. He practically slid to her on his knees, bringing her body into his lap. She was still breathing, he sighed a small sigh of relief. It was short lived. She had blood running out of the corner of her mouth and she was cold. Her breathing was ragged.

"Bulma! Bulma! WOMAN!" he slapped her face slightly, no response. He grabbed at her desk trying to find a phone. When he finally found it he called the only number he knew. His son.

The phone dialed and rang. After what felt like hours Trunks picked up the phone.

"Hello?" His voice sounded distant.

"Trunks! Send help! I don't know who to call, your mother needs a doctor NOW!" Vegeta's voice was shaking. Trunks had never heard his father sound like that.

"Okay, lemme hang up. I'll send them there." The phone clicked. Vegeta threw it across the room.

"Bulma, wake up woman, please. You've made me resort to begging!" He half laughed, thinking about how they always tortured each other like that. He was the arrogant dickhead and she was the hotheaded bitch and they loved that. He started to think ahead, what if? No, he couldn't let himself think like that. He wouldn't have to. She was always the level one, he always thought too much, so much it slowed him down. She could always break him out of it, get him to focus. She was his queen, his focal point, the mother of his children, she was stronger and smarter and he- he- he was lost without her. She would be fine. She had to be.

He took a breath and placed his head on hers. She had to be okay, she had to. Because at this point in time-without her- there was no him.


	6. It begins

**A/N Holy cow. I didn't expect this to have such a positive reception. Thank you so much everyone for sticking with my story this far! I plan to update most weekdays, so keep your eyes open! Thank you again and I hope you don't hate me too much for this chapter. Again, I don't own DBZ or anything.**

Everything seemed to stop. For Vegeta at least. He was frozen in place as they came in the house, slipped his unconscious wife from his arms, attached an oxygen mask to her face and rolled her out of the house. Everything around him moved so fast and yet he moved in slow motion. He turned slowly and walked to the door. His son led him out of the house and followed the ambulance to the hospital. They walked into the waiting room and Bulla was already waiting. She wrapped her arms around her father and he still didn't move.

In his mind he was trapped in that moment at home, holding his woman, her ragged breathing running on repeat like a song stuck in his head in his ears. The smell of her blood clung to his clothes like smoke. They led him to a chair and still he didn't speak, everyone asking him questions but he heard none of it. Their voices were like mosquito buzzing. All around but not making any sense. He was a robot. Nothing mattered. His vision was fogged in black. He sat. Waiting as Bulla and Trunks got the paperwork filled out for their mother's admission.

The siblings barely spoke. This was their mother. Their father was blank. They only had each other in this moment and all they could think was that even though they were grown and on their own they still needed their mother. She was one of the most important things in their lives and she was the one thing they took for granted all of these years.

Bulla thought about all the times that she and Bulma went head to head over the years, how she was so embarrassed when her mother showed affection as a teen, all the times she told her friends how much she hated her mother in those times. She hated herself right then because her mother was the best friend she had ever had and she had treated her like shit all throughout the years. She thought about all the ignored calls and messages and it physically hurt her. She still needed her 'mommy' and now there was a chance she wasn't gonna last the night for all she knew. She leaned on her brother's shoulder and sobbed.

Trunks had slipped into a rational mindset. He sat and his thoughts ran. He was very much like his father in the respect that he overthought everything. He thought about all of the possible scenarios. Maybe she fainted and bit her lip, hence the bleeding. She had a bronchial infection and simply passed out from lack of oxygen because she couldn't breathe properly. She had pneumonia or any number of things. She would get treatment and walk out in a couple days and be fine. She was going to be fine. SHE WAS FINE! He kept insisting this to himself. His mom was a strong woman, hell, he talked to her yesterday and she was fine, nothing could have taken a bad turn this fast! Bad things take time. Right?

The doctor walked out and called the three up to him to speak.

Vegeta finally snapped out of it. He sped over to the doctor and looked him in the eye.

"I want to see my wife, I need to see her." The doctor looked as if he had to fight back a shiver from the ice in Vegeta's voice. He composed himself and spoke.

"Sir, I have to show you and your children something. If you could follow me, please." He waved for them to follow him and he led them through the double doors towards the back of the hospital.

They were ushered into a small office that had four chairs set up, three on one side of the desk and one behind. Trunks and Bulla sat down. Vegeta refused the chair, standing behind his daughter with his arms crossed. The doctor sat behind the desk and began typing on the computer. After a couple of agonizing seconds, he stopped and looked at the three with a strange expression.

"I hate having to give this kind of news." He began, he took a small breath before continuing. "Mrs. Briefs has lung cancer. In the fourth stage. We took a few scans and found that the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and has started to take hold in her brain. I'm so sorry."

The tension in the room was palpable. Bulla grabbed her brother's hand and tears began to flow. The boys' faces froze into an emotionless mask, slowly taking in what was just said. Trunks squeezed his sister's hand so hard it hurt.

"Her lungs are degraded as well. She is in rough shape." The doctor breathed uncomfortably as he felt the death glares he was receiving from the Saiyan standing behind his children. Vegeta was livid.

"What are you going to do about it?" Vegeta hissed. He did not like the way the doctor was circling the issue he thought. When was this pathetic excuse going to explain the treatment for this illness?

"Well, uh, we will release her into your care for in home hospice. She will be placed on a portable oxygen tank and given medication to make her more comfortable in the coming weeks. We could pursue some chemotherapy, but at this point that would be nothing more than making her feel worse-"

"Hospice?" Bulla cut in, "Are you saying what I think you are?" Her face was turning red with anger, "That there is nothing you can do?"

Something clicked on in Vegeta's brain.

"You are going to let her die." His teeth ground and his fists clenched. "You are going to just send her home and let her die." He couldn't take this. He leapt over the desk and grabbed the doctor by his lab coat. "HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A DOCTOR WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO FUCKING SEND MY WIFE HOME TO DIE!" He raised a fist, preparing to punch the doctor into another universe when he felt Trunks grab his arm. He looked over his shoulder at his son. Trunks face was serious. He shook his head silently at his father. Vegeta released the doctor and stepped back.

"Can we see her?" Trunks asked the doctor, his voice quiet but forceful. The doctor nodded.

"She is in room G96." Trunks nodded again.

"Thank you, " He said curtly, then guided his crying sister out of the room along with his father.

Bulma sat in her room. The oxygen mask hurt her face, the I.V. was itching, and her pillow was in some messed up position that was making her neck ache. She tried to shift but it didn't help. The blood pressure machine attached to her arm was pinching and her head hurt.

But all in all she didn't care. The doctor had already told her what was going on. He had even left her chest x-rays in an envelope on her bedside table. She refused to look at them. She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't.

 _This isn't fair._ She thought. She should be growing old. Becoming a grandmother. Getting a head full of gray hair.

 _This isn't fair._


End file.
